Elon Musk reaches deal over tweets about taking Tesla private

Elon Musk must step down as Tesla chair and pay a fine after reaching a deal with US regulators over tweets he posted about taking the firm private.

It follows Thursday’s decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sue Mr Musk for alleged securities fraud.

Under the deal, Mr Musk will remain as Tesla CEO but must step down as chairman for three years.

Both he and Tesla will also have to pay a $20m (£15m) fine.

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Under the terms of the deal, he will also have to comply with company communications procedures when tweeting about the firm.

The fraud allegation relates to his August tweet in which he said he was considering taking Tesla off the stock market and into private ownership.

He wrote he had “funding secured” for the proposal, which would value Tesla at $420 per share.

The SEC said those claims were “false and misleading”.

“In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source,” the regulator said.

Mr Musk initially responded to the charges by saying the action was “unjustified” and he acted in the “best interests of truth, transparency and investors”.